Entertaining and amusing, if not particularly groundbreaking.
A little girl named Claudine tries to misbehave just before Christmas so that Santa won’t come into her house to deliver presents on Christmas Eve.
Claudine doesn’t like the idea of Santa watching her and determining if she is naughty or nice. She also doesn’t “want Santa to break into her home.” So she decides to act up in the days before Christmas so that Santa will skip her house, although her older sister claims he will still come since she is well-behaved. Claudine’s minor mischief includes squirting toothpaste all over the bathroom, tracking pink paint footprints on the floor, and blowing her nose on her mother’s skirt. On Christmas morning there are no presents under the tree for either sister, but Claudine finds all the family’s presents on the front porch with a note from Santa. Claudine, her family, and Santa are white; some of the children waiting in line to see Santa are other ethnicities. The plot isn’t especially original, and it isn’t believable that a child of Claudine’s age (around 6) would want to forego Christmas presents rather than have Santa deliver them. Appealing illustrations have a retro, 1960s vibe with skirts on the female characters and a record player in Claudine’s room. The composition of the illustrations and the overall design are attractive and polished.
Entertaining and amusing, if not particularly groundbreaking. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 24, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-101-93734-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 20, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2017
Cookie-cutter predictability.
After all the daring escapes in the How To Catch… series, will the kids be able to catch Santa?
Oddly, previous installments saw the children trying (and failing) to catch an elf and a reindeer, but both are easily captured in this story. Santa, however, is slippery. Tempted but not fooled by poinsettias, a good book (attached to a slingshot armed with a teddy bear projectile), and, of course, milk and cookies, Santa foils every plan. The hero in a red suit has a job to do. Presents must be placed, and lists must be checked. He has no time for traps and foolery (except if you’re the elf, who falls for every one of them). Luckily, Santa helps the little rascal escape each time. Little is new here—the kids resort to similar snares found in previous works: netting, lures, and technological wonders such as the Santa Catcher 5000. Although the rhythm falters quite a bit (“How did we get out you ask? / It looked like we were done for. / Santa’s magic is very real, / and I cannot reveal more”), fans of the series may not mind. Santa and Christmas just might be enough to overcome the flaws. Santa and the elf are light-skinned, one of the children is brown-skinned, and the other presents as Asian. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Cookie-cutter predictability. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2023
ISBN: 9781728274270
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies.
Pigeon finds something better to drive than some old bus.
This time it’s Santa delivering the fateful titular words, and with a “Ho. Ho. Whoa!” the badgering begins: “C’mon! Where’s your holiday spirit? It would be a Christmas MIRACLE! Don’t you want to be part of a Christmas miracle…?” Pigeon is determined: “I can do Santa stuff!” Like wrapping gifts (though the accompanying illustration shows a rather untidy present), delivering them (the image of Pigeon attempting to get an oversize sack down a chimney will have little ones giggling), and eating plenty of cookies. Alas, as Willems’ legion of young fans will gleefully predict, not even Pigeon’s by-now well-honed persuasive powers (“I CAN BE JOLLY!”) will budge the sleigh’s large and stinky reindeer guardian. “BAH. Also humbug.” In the typically minimalist art, the frustrated feathered one sports a floppily expressive green and red elf hat for this seasonal addition to the series—but then discards it at the end for, uh oh, a pair of bunny ears. What could Pigeon have in mind now? “Egg delivery, anyone?”
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781454952770
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
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